Are you AI fluent? Here are 4 tips on getting the most out of chatbots

The 'Cats' approach helps in crafting good AI prompts.

- Sandra Peter and Kai Riemer

"And do you work well with AI?" As tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot and other generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems become part of everyday workflows, more companies are looking for employees who can answer "yes" to this question; in other words, people who can prompt effectively, think with AI and use it to boost productivity.

In fact, in a growing number of roles, being "AI fluent" is quickly becoming as important as being proficient in office software once was.

But we have all had that moment when we have asked an AI chatbot a question and received what feels like the most generic, surface-level answer. The problem is not the AI - you just have not given it enough to work with.

Think of it this way. During training, the AI will have "read" virtually everything on the internet. But because it makes predictions, it will give you the most probable, most common response.

Without specific guidance, it is like walking into a restaurant and asking for something good. You will likely get the chicken.

Your solution lies in understanding that AI systems excel at adapting to context, but you have to provide it. So how exactly do you do that?

CRAFTING BETTER PROMPTS You may have heard the term "prompt engineering". It might sound like you need to design some kind of technical script to get results.